


Ruses and truths

by WizzyGold



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rumbelle Christmas in July, rcij
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 21:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11586963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WizzyGold/pseuds/WizzyGold
Summary: Gift for louts0kid, for the Rumbelle Christmas in July 2017Prompt was "Are we fighting o flirting?"





	1. The ruse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lotus0kid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lotus0kid/gifts).



> It was a total pleasure being your Santa and exploring this prompt! I hope you enjoy it!

“Are we fighting or flirting?”

“Huh?”

 

Belle rolled her eyes, tugging his arm towards her to make him focus. “Fighting or flirting? What was your plan?”

 

“Oh, eh, I don’t know? What do you think will work best?”

 

“For the love of... do you want her near you or not?”

 

“Not. At all. Never. No.” He shook his head for emphasis. Honestly, if he wasn’t that freaked out, it would be so funny.

 

It still was. A little bit.

 

“Flirting it is, then. Now, try your best suave moves on me, and try to look at me as if you want me.”

 

“Oh, but I do.” He murmured, looking at her directly in the eyes and for a moment she forgot that this was her best friend and that this was all a ruse. Her stomach gave a summersault and she was sure, just completely sure, that she was blushing and probably gaping like a fish. Then, his eyes crinkled and he smirked and the effect was mostly gone, it was always just there, under the surface, but for now, she could control it enough for her to grin at him and playfully swap his arm.

 

“Keep it up and she’ll never suspect anything.”

 

“Hmm, if only. She may like the competition.” He responded with a grimace.

 

“Point, I’ll have to make sure she knows you’re mine then.”

 

He looked at her, a weird, contemplative expression on his eyes. Realizing what she’d said, she mentally cringed but was saved from explaining herself when Ruby came in to ask for their order.

 

“So,” Rum continued after Ruby was gone, “Christmas office party, you’ll be my plus one?”

 

“Yes, you’ll have to let me know what you’re wearing, so we’ll match.”

 

“You don’t have to buy anything, Belle. You are helping me after all.”

 

She looked at him for a moment. It wasn’t as if he was poor. He did own half the town and was a lawyer as well, “At least let me buy you dinner.”

 

“We agreed this one was on me.” He looked at her a bit reproachable.

 

“Another one then, after the party.” After he nodded Ruby came with the food and they spent a few minutes eating their burgers in a comfortable silence born from years of friendship and trust. “So, tell me the story, how did you manage to get yourself an admirer?”

 

He grimaced at that. “She is...I don’t know, Belle. She is the ex of a business associate from years ago. He invited me over to one of his parties and she started to make not so subtle comments and it didn’t matter how much I snarled or made cutting remarks, she would just find them funny, for some reason.”

 

“So far, what you’ve told me is that some woman was flirting with you. What’s wrong with that?”

 

“I wasn’t interested and she wouldn’t respect that.”

 

“And you told her you weren’t interested?”

 

“Yes, I have no problem doing that, but then she started to show up at the office, it didn’t matter how many times Ariel told her I was in a meeting. She is very insistent and I don’t know what to do anymore.”

 

Seeing how uncomfortable he was, even explaining the situation, she decided she would do whatever it took to stop that woman. “You know, we don’t have to go to any party, if she is showing up at your office, I can just be there. It would be quicker and if she keeps pestering you, and sees me at the party being all cozy with you, she should be able to figure out we are together.”

 

“Hmm, that could work, but you do have to run a library Belle, I can’t expect you to be at my beck and call all day.”

 

“I’ll join you for lunch. She has probably shown up at that time before, yes?”

 

“I think so.” He took a sip of his cold tea before cleaning his hands with the napkin before dropping it on the empty plate. “You win, but if you decide to bring Granny’s or Marco’s, I’ll buy.”

 

“Deal.” She grinned and they shook hands playfully. He gave her a wink, making her blush a little. He smiled and called for Ruby to pay for the meal. He walked her home, something new for them since she usually insisted that a five-minute walk to the little apartment above the library was nothing, and he very gallantly kissed her hand before saying goodbye.

If she wasn’t in love with him before, she sure as hell would have been now.

 

It had been a few days since their deal,  and so far the mysterious woman hadn’t shown up to wreak havoc, but neither were very troubled by that fact. Belle had shown up with a picnic basket and they had put a little blanket on his desk to eat. Ariel had just rolled her eyes at the pair of them, muttering something about blinds, which confused the pair a bit.

 

Now, Robert was waiting for his best friend. He’d left the door to his office open since Ariel knew Belle would just waltz in and was completing some paperwork for a case before putting everything away so he could place the blanket on the desk. He smiled at that, it was a cheesy thing to do and no doubt Belle was doing it on purpose, but cheesy or not, he kind of liked it. Not that he would ever say that out loud.

 

The front door opened and he looked up, expecting to see bouncy chestnut curls and the prettiest blue eyes imaginable, but instead, he was met with a pair of green eyes and a fake smile. Bollocks.

 

Ariel was nowhere to be seen either, so the woman walked right into his office. “Robert! Finally, it´s been so hard to get a hold of you,” she said with a sweetness that reeked of fake. He stood up but didn’t offer her a seat, hoping she wouldn’t sit if he was standing up and set his face into a blank mask, his jaw tight and cane in front of him like a shield. He was pretty sure his knuckles were turning white.

 

Barely managing a snarl he said “I’ve been busy, Miss Zeele. As a matter of fact, I am busy at the present time, so if you’ll excuse me.”

 

“Oh, a little paperwork can wait, don’t you want to get out of the office for a bit? I’m sure we could find some way to entertain ourselves.” she flashed a grin, her eyes traveling his body, her intentions perfectly clear.

 

Why was Belle taking so long?

 

“As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not interested in seeing you in any manner, be it professional or otherwise, now, as I’ve said, I’m busy and…” He was interrupted by the sound of the door of the office opening, Belle walking right in, sweeping the snow from her shoulders with one hand while holding a bag of Granny’s with the other. Her eyes narrowed a bit at seeing the woman in his office and his tense stance. “Rum, darling, sorry I’m late, dad was telling me he was expecting us to talk about the wedding,” she said while walking where he was, completely ignoring the other woman and planting a kiss on his cheek, leaving her gloved hand on top of his. “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a client.”

 

“I don’t, Miss Zeele was just leaving.”

  


The woman was glaring at Belle but seemed to think better of the situation a retreat. “I’ll see you next week, Robert” she winked and left, closing the door of the building with more force than necessary.

 

“Thank you for that,” Robert said, relaxing and taking a seat, while Belle put the bag of food on the desk and took her gloves and coat.

 

“I’m sorry I’m late, I was really talking to dad. He and Emma are planning to renew their vows and were telling me all the details. You are, of course, invited.” Belle’s mother had died when Belle had been about three. Maurice had been devastated, but when Belle was right out of high school, almost 12 years ago, he had met Emma Potts and they had fallen in love. They had been married 10 years and wanted something special to celebrate that anniversary.

 

“Of course I’ll go, Belle.” He said with a smile, that quickly turned wicked. “Excellent way to make her think we were engaged. The not taking your gloves off was a stroke of genius, as well.”

 

Belle giggled and started to take out their lunch. “If it were the summer the lie would have been obviously fake. Did you see her glaring at me? That was priceless.”

 

He nodded, taking a few fries out of Belle’s plate, laughing softly when she gave a squeak of protest and shooed his hand away.  “Hopefully she’ll get the message. But now you do have to accompany me to the party.”

 

“Of course, it’s not like it’s a chore, Rum. You are my dearest friend and I would do anything for you.” She hadn’t meant to say it quite like that, even if the sentiment was true. She could feel her face heating up, her heart speeding up when he grabbed her hand and softly pressed a kiss to her knuckles, murmuring a thank you, his brown eyes never leaving hers. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, her hand in his, before he let go and changed the subject, seeming to return to his sarcastic self. This man was going to be the death of her one day.

 

 


	2. The truth

 

 

The day of the party came quickly. Rum had indeed bought Belle a dress, a lovely golden cocktail dress with a layered tulle skirt that teases just above the knee with a strapless bodice glittering with sequins. It had been one of the last she had tried on, she’d been tired and on her last legs after traipsing around Boston with Rum all day long, but his face when she’d come out of the dressing room had been worth it.

 

Now, she was waiting for him to pick her up. She was just finishing putting on her earrings when the doorbell rang. When she opened the door, he was there with his cane in one hand and his other hiding behind his back. His eyes widened in shock when he set his eyes upon her and he whispered a soft “You’re beautiful.” before presenting her with a single red rose, without thorns, that he’d been hiding behind his back, making a bit of a graceful bow, inclining his head and looking at her through his lashes. “If you’ll have it?”

 

She blushed and shyly picked the flower, carefully gracing his fingers with hers. “Why thank you,” she replied, doing a little curtsey. They both smiled and she ushered him inside while she put the flower in a vase and finished getting ready. He sat on the couch, picking up a book she had on the little table next to it and flickered through it. It wasn’t the first time he was in her house, they had a weekly meeting where they would watch a movie or eat take out, but this felt different and he was hoping he would be brave enough to do something about that by the end of tonight.

 

“Belle,” he called. There was an important detail he had to fix about their night first. “When you’re done, come to the couch. We forgot something for tonight.”

 

“What?” she asked, a little-worried frown adorning her beautiful face, as she came from her room, sitting next to him and finishing strapping her heels.

 

He grabbed a little velvet box from the pocket inside his jacket. She gasped. “The woman thinks we are engaged. It totally slipped my mind.”

 

He nodded and picked up her hand. “This can’t be a gift, Belle. It belonged to my aunties and they made me promise to only give it to my wife when I proposed.” The corners of his mouth lifted with no humor. “Milah never liked simple things, so I never used it when we married. I was terribly glad of that fact after we divorced. In any case, I would still like for you to use it tonight.”

 

“Rum, no, I can’t. Your aunties…”

 

“Would have loved you. They would have approved of you defending my honor,” he said with a smirk, to let her know he was joking. “Seriously, Belle, if I thought they wouldn’t have approved I would have to find another way.”

 

She nodded and he opened the box. It was a very simple golden ring, with a small diamond on top. It was perfect. He quickly kissed her hand in thanks before slipping the ring, noting with relief that it fit perfectly. His auntie had always had small and delicate hands.

 

“I’ll take care of it, Rum. Nothing will happen to it,” she said fiercely and he smiled.

 

“I know that, Belle. I trust you. Now, come on, before we are late.”

 

The party was in full swing when they got there and immediately the lawyers from Rum’s firm were upon them, eying Belle with interest while he introduced her as his plus one. The main firm was in Boston, but he and another lawyer ran the smaller office in Storybrooke. It had been that way since Belle could remember and she knew her best friend had decided to stay in the small, boring town to raise his son, Neal, in a safe and calm environment. Neal, now 18, had moved to Boston to go to college, but Rum had set his roots on Storybrooke and liked the town well enough, besides, he always said, Neal would visit and it was the perfect place for grandsons to visit if there were to be any in the future.

 

Rum’s coworkers were nice enough, curious but polite. They were all sitting on a large table, talking about business and cases. The food was delicious, even if the portions were the size of peas, but Rum had whispered in her ear that takes out was in order after the party, making Belle laugh and nod in agreement.

 

After the meal, most of them left the table to mingle or dance. Rum took her to a group of people at the other side of the room, saying that he needed to be sociable and settle a few dealings before they could go. He had his arm around her while talking to his coworkers Belle felt a tingle every time he moved his hand to be more comfortable.

 

They hadn’t seen his admirer yet, for which they were glad.

 

Of course, as soon as that thought was made, Belle heard her voice behind them. Instinctively, she drew closer to Rum, his arm tightening around her waist. The woman was about to kiss Rum on the cheek when she noticed Belle next to him and she scowled. He introduced her as his fiancée, and Belle could see a calculating look on Miss Zeele’s eye when she checked Belle’s hand and the disappointment mixed with envy when she saw the ring.

 

Rum quickly excused them, insisting that they were needed elsewhere.

 

“Smooth,” Belle commented when they were out of earshot, walking towards a balcony that showed the city. He gave her an embarrassed smirk.

 

“I panicked. Besides, I didn’t really appreciate how she was looking at you.”

 

“Like she wanted to beat me with her purse? I noticed that. Got worse when she saw the ring.”

 

Rum snorted, squeezing her waist before letting go, supporting his weight on the banister of the balcony looking out to the city.

 

“Belle…” he started, but then stopped. He looked at her for a long moment before focusing on the city once more. Belle suddenly felt dread coming to her. He was never this quiet with her, not since forming a friendship years ago. But she remembered what it was like then, so she waited patiently, moving slowly until she was next to him on the banister, looking at him watching the night sky.

 

“Thank you for being here.” he murmured, looking at her with soft eyes and a kind smile. She appreciated the darkness of the night masking her blush.

 

“It was no problem, Rum.”

 

He chuckled. “I still can’t believe you call me that.”

 

She smirked, getting more at ease with the safe topic. It had been a game night when they’d first started being close when the nickname was used. Neal had confessed that when he was very young, he found out his papa’s name and couldn’t pronounce it very well, but he had tried. The result had been Rum and it had stuck. It was the first time Belle had seen him flushed and she had been using it ever since. When in private or with Neal, of course.  “You love it and you know it.”

 

“I do. Belle, you know that you are my closest friend, right?”

 

“Of course. You’re mine as well.”

 

“I’m glad.”

 

“Rum, is there something on your mind?” For some reason, her heart started beating really fast. She still wasn’t sure if it was in fear or excitement.

 

“There is, but I’m not sure if I should say it. There might be a downside to saying what’s on my mind.”

 

“It’s me, you can tell me anything, it won’t affect us.”

 

He smiled again and turned his body so he was facing her. Slowly, he brought his hand to gently cup her cheek and Belle couldn’t help but lean slightly into his touch. Embolden by this he leaned in, softly placing his lips on top of hers in a whisper of a kiss before withdrawing far enough to look at her in the eyes. “I care far more about you than I should, my Belle. Have I ruined this? Us?”

 

She quickly shook her head, her smile couldn’t be contained. “I feel the same, Rum. I’ve never thought you’d…”

 

“I have, Belle. For so long.”

 

They were both smiling at this point, but it was Belle the one that closed the distance this time, their lips meeting and slowly caressing each other, exploring and enjoying the feeling of finally being completely honest, of expressing their love for the other without fear of rejection.

 

When they broke apart, they gently rested their foreheads against each other, both breathing heavily, before Belle started to giggle, making Rober frown. “Anything funny, dear?”

 

“Remember when we were in your office and Ariel mentioned something about blinds?”

 

He nodded

 

“I think she was referring to us and not your windows.”

 

“Oh.” His expression was a bit embarrassed and confused like he didn't know if he should be amused or not.

 

“Yes.”

 

He chuckled and gave her a chaste kiss, glad beyond measure that he could do that. “Should we return so we can say our goodbyes? I think I promised you adequate substance tonight.”

 

Belle nodded and grabbed his hand, smiling when he interlaced their fingers together, and they started to walk back towards the party.

 

“Well, I think you don’t have to worry about your admirer anymore.” Belle indicated to the woman currently draped over one of Rum’s competitor from another firm, a man who looked more ready for a pirate boat than a party.

 

“Hm. I don’t know who I should feel sorrier for.”

 

“Neither?”

 

“You know me so well, dear.”

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> DOn't have a beta, so I'm sorry for any mistakes!!


End file.
